With a Little Help From My Friends
by MidniteMarauder
Summary: In which Sirius and Remus shag like fiends, and James just can't take it anymore. Remus/Sirius; Remus/Sirius/James


**Author's Notes: **Thanks to whymzycal for the beta and red_squared for the hand-holding. Title courtesy of the Beatles. Written for xylodemon for the 2011 RS_Small_Gifts fest as a bonus fic.

This story has been edited from its original NC-17 version which can be found on either my livejournal or AO3 account. That said, there's still content of a sexual nature—merely with less explicit description—so fair warning to you all before you read. Warnings for oral and anal sex, and a threesome with Remus in the middle.

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"Hey, Padfoot," James called out as he barged back into the dormitory. "I almost forgot. We—You have got to be kidding me!" He covered his eyes with his hand, but of course he was still peeking though the gap between his fingers. "I was gone for less than thirty seconds and you couldn't even keep it in your pants that long?"

Sirius slipped his cock from Remus' mouth, grinned at James and shrugged, not even bothering to cover himself. At least Remus had the decency to keep his face turned away. These two. They were going to kill him. It was bad enough he hadn't pulled in more than seven months; what made it worse was that since these two bastards started shagging, he had become so intimate with his right hand, he was considering proposing for Christmas.

"Well? Are you going to stand there and stare at my cock, or are you going to tell me what was so damned important you had to interrupt us? Or," Sirius added, leering, "Did you want to join us? Moony's exceptionally good at sucking cock, you know."

"I was not staring and I—I don't know—I mean, for Merlin's sake, I'm not the raging bender around here!" Okay, so he had been staring, just a bit, but a blow job was a blow job, after all, and it didn't really matter whose lips … He licked his own. "You're insufferable, you know that?"

Sirius grinned even wider and James looked away. He couldn't even remember what it was he'd come back for, not that it mattered anymore. He clenched his fist, the blunt tips of his fingernails making crescents in the damp skin of his palm.

"You're a terrible liar," Sirius said, taking a few steps towards James. His cock, still hard, bobbed with each step. Christ!

"I'm not bent, you arsehole. And put some bloody clothes on," James said, taking a step back.

"That was never actually a question. Been a lonely few months, though, hasn't it, Prongs? More than just a few."

James glanced at Remus who was kneeling beside his bed, his face buried in his arms as he leant against the blankets, shoulders shaking ever so slightly. He felt his own face grow warm.

Sirius took another few steps closer, and James swallowed, forcing himself to maintain eye contact. He would not glance down. Not even for the briefest of—Ah, bugger.

"I know you think Evans is starting to come around," Sirius said, his voice low and menacing, "but acknowledging your existence and not hexing you on sight is a long way from letting you get into her knickers." Sirius closed the gap between them and bent close to James' ear. "Moony's mouth is like fucking a hot, tight, wet cunt. Only better."

James inhaled sharply, his mouth suddenly gone dry, while across the room, Remus emitted a strange, high-pitched squeak.

James pushed Sirius away, grateful for the distraction. "Now look what you've done, you filthy bastard. You've embarrassed him."

"Who? Moony? Embarrassed?" Sirius laughed.

"Look at him, poor bastard! He's—"

Remus snorted and rolled off the bed onto the floor.

"—he's laughing? Remus Lupin, you utter tosspot!" Remus _was_ laughing. Great gasping whoops of it, in fact. "I—You—I bloody hope Rosier hexes your knobs off, you bastards!" He turned on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Best friends or not, sometimes he really hated them both.

He stomped down the stairs and paused on the landing between the first and second tower floors, leaning against the stone wall to catch his breath and get his bearings. He was supposed to be somewhere right now, but he couldn't remember where because the raging hard-on in his pants had taken over his brain. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

He really wasn't attracted to blokes, was he? Not really, though he could appreciate when someone was particularly fit. No, that wasn't the same thing. He was mad for Evans and had been for ages. Of course, this didn't help even the slightest towards explaining why he was frequently sporting a bloody perpetual stonker with more than a profane curiosity about his best friends' sex lives. Even now he was thinking about Sirius' offer. Well, he supposed it was really Remus' offer, wasn't it?

He smacked himself in the forehead. _Get a grip, Potter! Well, yes, isn't that the objective? Or allowing someone else to. And not with their hand, either. You've seen them at it. Think about how it would feel ..._

Great. Now he was talking to himself.

James sighed. He'd been in love with Lily Evans since at least fourth year. Well, it was more like lust at first, or perhaps intense infatuation was more apt. The actual love thing had come in to play a bit later—last February to be exact—while shagging Margery Popplewell in Greenhouse Four. Odd time to realise that you were in love, and more, that it wasn't with the person whose hand was wrapped around your cock. Of course Lily despised him, which he supposed was a minor obstacle, all things considered, but what he wanted most of all was for her to simply talk to him without shouting or any hint of annoyance in her voice. Even better if she'd smile at him and mean it, and maybe even hold his hand.

Merlin's balls, he really was a poncy bastard. A poncy bastard who, at this rate, might never have sex with a woman again. No wonder he kept tossing off all the time. And speaking of tossing off … He lifted his robes and rearranged himself; the elastic of his pants was digging almost painfully into his erect cock. Yeah, that wasn't going to help. He needed larger pants. No, what he really needed was to make a quick detour—

"Potter, you toerag! I've been waiting for fifteen bloody minutes already. What the hell are you doing up there? We're late."

He jumped. "Ah, Evans," he said, and quickly straightened his robes, peering over the railing at her below. Shit buggering fuck. God, he was rubbish; so busy thinking about Evans to help distract him from illicit blow jobs that he completely forgot that Evans was actually waiting for him. He cleared his throat. "I thought we agreed you weren't going to call me that anymore."

She narrowed her eyes at him and pressed her lips together.

He pushed his glasses back up his nose and tried to smile, but he was afraid it looked more like a grimace. Would she notice the giant erumpent horn poking through his robes? Of course she would. Well, he'd notice if he were her. Bugger, bugger, bugger. Fuck Rosier. _He_ was going to hex Sirius' knob off so he didn't ever have to think about it again.

"Well, are you going to stand there all day, or are you coming?"

James sighed and flapped his robes in an effort to hide his awkward condition. "Sadly, not at the moment, no," he muttered to himself as he jogged down the last set of stairs.

_**`ooOoOoo`**_

James rolled over onto his back, stretched his arms and legs the length and breadth of the bed, and stared up into the darkness. They were in Sirius' bed tonight. He preferred it when they were in Moony's because then at least he had Peter between them as a buffer.

Oh, who was he kidding. He was a humungous pervert who'd spent all afternoon and evening thinking about Moony's mouth. Supper had nearly been the death of him, watching Remus eat, and when he'd sucked on his fingers in lieu of a napkin ... James had nearly choked on his turnips and had to excuse himself to find an empty broom cupboard.

It wasn't that he begrudged them their steady parade of buggery, except that he totally did. And it wasn't that he felt uncomfortable around them, except that wasn't entirely true either. Things had changed since last term, and while it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, sometimes it was a bit lonely.

All the times they'd shared beds, crawling in when one of them couldn't sleep, or when it was bitterly cold and neither the fire nor warming charms seemed to make a dent in the bone-deep chill emanating from the stone walls and floor. Or when they were planning their usual mayhem, or just faffing about, a bottle of Firewhisky and snacks filched from the kitchen strewn everywhere, even underneath the blankets, and the unlucky sod whose bed they were all in would have crumbs in their arse crack for a week.

He missed that sort of late night larking about, and he missed Sirius slipping into his bed with his ice-block feet and his pointy elbows. The endless conversations about the most ridiculous things ever. They'd been debating for six years about whether or not a turtle who was missing its shell was homeless or naked. Then there was the question of whether or not the portraits had sex when no-one was watching. They'd tried to suss that one out using the cloak, and while they'd heard some rather remarkable noises coming from the nether-space outside the frames, they'd never actually caught any of them at it. Probably for the best, that.

A lot of their discussions had revolved around sex, hadn't they? No wonder he was such a bloody pervert.

When Sirius had first told James about his inclinations, James had been a bit of a prat. Well, all right, he'd been a complete arse about it. It had been a shock after all. Years of arguing about who had the nicest tits, ranking them by age and house. He knew for a fact that Sirius had shagged at least one bird, because he'd watched. They'd both shagged her, and—

He reached down to push his pyjama bottoms down to his knees and wrapped his hand around his cock, stroking it absently. That had been his first time, the summer before last at the shore, but Sirius had seemed to know what he was doing.

He stretched and slid his free arm beneath his head, elbow bent at a sharp angle, the weight of his head atop his wrist. They did a lot of things together. Practically everything. They'd even wanked together—though not _together_. Okay, there was that one time in fourth year when they'd been a bit pissed. It was an easy mistake to make, grabbing your friend's knob by accident like that. And sure, that other time, too, summer term in fifth year when Snape had hexed him and his hands swelled like a barrage balloon. But it was only twice. All right, maybe three times, but no more than that, he was certain.

But that's what mates did: helped you out when you were in dire straits. Usually it was the two of them lying in bed and telling each other lurid and filthy fantasies to try to get the other to come first. James nearly always lost, and now that he thought about it, it sort of made sense. Too much talk of tits and fanny and not enough—not any—about cock.

Yet, in all that time, Sirius had never made any genuine overtures towards him, not in that way. Not until recently, whatever this new thing was, and James wasn't sure if Sirius was just taking the piss or ... His hand stilled on his cock and he snorted. _Helped you out when you were in dire straits._ Great. His best friend was offering him a pity fuck.

The bed beside him creaked, and he heard a low, drawn-out moan. He turned his head to the side, pressing his face against his arm. Bloody amateurs who couldn't master simple Silencing spells. He made to sit up and grab his wand from the nightstand, but stopped before he'd done more than lift his head. It wasn't just moans; he could hear them. Not the slapping sound of fucking, but a kind of slurping, sucking noise.

He tilted his head, listening, absently stroking his cock. He caught snippets of words amongst the breathy moans, and it made him blush.

His skin prickled and he closed his eyes, sucking in a slow breath. Part of him wanted to be repulsed, and he involuntarily clenched his arse. A surge of heat swept over him as he wondered how it would feel, imagined himself being licked all over, tongues swirling over his prick, his arse, lips sucking on his neck, red lips and white teeth at his nipples, rolling him over onto his side, then onto his stomach, a dozen Lily Evanses from some bizarre Time Turner accident all hovering over him, though he couldn't see their faces very clearly. Everything was a blur.

His hand moved faster and he squeezed his fist in pulses around his cock. _"Like fucking a hot, tight, wet cunt. Only better."_

It wasn't Lily, but Moony. He groaned, the images in his mind now flashing between Moony at supper sucking on those damn fingers, Moony on his knees while Sirius fucked his mouth ...

His fantasy Evanses vanished like wisps of smoke, and he couldn't seem to summon them back. Instead there were skinny legs and bony wrists, light brown hair that needed trimming, pale pink lips instead of red.

The bed dipped beside him and those lips were against his, soft and slightly swollen, open and warm, tongue dipping between his own lips, tasting him. Slender fingers pinched his nipples, more hands coaxed his legs apart, followed by a warm, wet tongue just underneath his balls, another hand, gently cupping his jaw. He squeezed his cock, jerking it harder. Almost there ... almost ...

He moaned, the sound swallowed by Moony's mouth on his, and he opened his eyes in shock, nearly biting the tongue that actually was in his mouth as he came, his entire body convulsing.

"Holy fuck!" he exclaimed, once he caught his breath and his brain resumed functioning.

"'Hullo, Prongs," Remus said softly, sitting back.

"You—I—What—?" He heard a low chuckle from the lower end of the bed and sat up sharply, pointing. "You!"

"Me," Sirius said from between James' legs and shrugged. "Well, us," he added, gesturing at Remus with his chin.

James blinked and tried to focus. Remus slid James' glasses onto his nose and he blinked again. They were both starkers, and at first he couldn't decide whether the blurry version was preferable or not.

"Do you want us to stop?" Remus asked, frowning slightly.

"What else could you possibly do right now?"

Sirius and Remus exchanged a look, and while James was wary of the gleam in Sirius' eye, nothing could have prepared him for what happened next. They bent down over his mid-section in tandem—

"Fucking hell!"

—and licked him clean: his stomach, his cock, even his hand, which he hadn't bothered to wipe on the sheets like he usually did. He squirmed—it tickled, and there was a tongue in places that no tongue had ever gone before. He tilted his neck and looked down at them, and had to close his eyes.

"I could have used a _Scourgify_, you know," he said weakly after they were finished. He opened his eyes and saw that they were snogging. "Ugh."

They broke off their kiss and Sirius winked at him. "Our way was more fun."

James snorted. "So glad you're enjoying yourself, you twisted bastard. I can't believe you just did that."

"You weren't complaining. In fact, you were clearly enjoying it. You were certainly loud enough."

"I was not!"

"You said Moony's name. Three times."

"I did not!"

Sirius shook his head, grinning. "You have no idea how loud you are when you wank, do you?"

"I am not loud! You two, on the other hand. Do you purposely cast a bloody Sonorous Charm or something? I can still hear you when I'm in the loo."

Sirius waved his hand in dismissal. "You are loud. And you talk to yourself. And to whomever you're fantasising about at the time. Always have. Thanks to you, I can recite the Harpies' starting line-up for the past six seasons in my sleep," Sirius said. Remus nodded, biting his lip in an attempt to hide his grin. Wasn't working, the bastard. There was no way. James would know if he talked or moaned or whatever. He'd hear it himself, wouldn't he?

"Wormy's been putting up his own Silencing charms every night since fourth year," Sirius added.

"That tosser. No wonder he never wakes up in the morning."

Sirius ran his finger down James' stomach, following the damp trail of hair from his navel to the tip of his flaccid cock. James shivered. "Stop that. It tickles."

"You never cast any Silencing charms, Prongs. Why is that?"

James widened his eyes. "I—what if there's a fire? Or, you know, someone could break in, try to steal something. Or murder you two in your sleep because you're so fucking loud when you're fucking and they can't sleep."

Sirius laughed, and Remus reached across James' chest and picked up his right hand again. It was still a bit clammy from before. He kissed James' palm and then licked a slow circle before taking it in both hands, pressing his thumbs in the centre and massaging it firmly. Damn, that felt bloody marvellous.

He brought James' hand closer, still massaging it, and sucked James' index finger into his mouth. James made a gurgling sound, and he was sure he felt his cock twitch.

"It's okay," Remus said, releasing it and moving to the next one. _Nnngggh!_

"I'm not—Christ!" Remus dragged his teeth along the length of James' finger and James closed his eyes, swallowing. "I'm not—not bent," he whispered hoarsely.

"Does that matter? We know how you feel about Evans," Sirius said. "That's not the point. Feels good, doesn't it?"

James nodded. Remus was sucking really hard on his pinky finger and he thought he might die.

"Stop thinking about it so much. It's just us. We'll stop if you want us to," Sirius said, running the tip of his finger along the length of James' cock, "but I don't think you do, do you?"

James shook his head. Remus had gone back to his index finger and was licking it like an ice cream. If it felt this good with his finger ...

"Why? You two ... I mean, why would you—?"

"Why not?" Sirius asked.

"I don't need a pity fuck!" James snapped, opening his eyes. He sat up on his elbow a bit awkwardly as Remus still had his fingers in his mouth. "And speaking of, you'd best keep your cock away from my arse, Black."

Sirius laughed. "Right. No buggering Prongs. I don't have such reservations, though," he added with a mischievous glint in his eye. "You can bugger mine if you like."

James fell back against his pillow with a _thwump_ and closed his eyes again, a pained expression on his face. God-damned son of a harpy. _Stop it! Do not ... You will not bugger your best friend, not now, not ever,_ he told himself, but it was too late. The image was far too vivid, and his prick was clearly enjoying it. This was the end. He really was a perverted and depraved sex fiend. "I hate you both," he whispered.

"As long as you still respect me in the morning," Sirius said.

"Padfoot," Remus said. "Stop teasing him." Remus let go his hand, placing it gently on his chest, and James felt Remus lie down beside him and brush his fringe across his forehead. He opened his eyes and Remus was propped on his side, looking at him with a pensive expression.

"It's not pity. We just ..." Remus shrugged his shoulder and grinned. "Thought you might want to do more than just watch. Or listen."

James sighed softly. Not quite patronising, but really, these two: Padfoot being his usual unapologetic, annoying self, and Moony trying to mediate. Where did they get off—Okay, he might want to rephrase that, though it was fittingly apt. The whole situation was comical. Yes, he'd watched them a couple of times. What good was the cloak if he didn't use it for mischief? And listened. Frequently. It was simple curiosity. Nothing wrong with that.

Though he'd often wondered at the origins of the invisibility cloak, and there were times when he was convinced he'd descended from an entire line of degenerate voyeurs. Of course, this wasn't any time to be thinking about his father or his grandfather Potter.

When had he turned into such an overwrought fusspot? His best mates were offering up free blow jobs and he was acting like a fairy tale maiden protecting her purity from the big, bad, scary wolf. _Are you a man or not, you big wuss?_

He opened his eyes and looked at Sirius with a gleam in his own eye. Well then, two—or three—could play at that game. He turned to Remus, who was biting his lip again, grabbed him by the back of his head and roughly pulled him down for a snog. He was through being a submissive twit.

Moony was a bloody good kisser, he discovered. James had started out a bit violent, all tongue and teeth, hell-bent on taking charge as he usually did, but Moony, it turned out, was practically a different person behind drawn curtains. James might have taken offence that Moony was so set on challenging what little authority James had manage to regain if he wasn't enjoying it so much. Still, James thought as he shifted the action back to Moony's mouth, he'd show Moony that he wasn't to be underestimated.

He pulled back and opened his eyes, feeling vaguely triumphant over his snogging prowess when he became aware of movement down by his feet. He peered past Remus' shoulder and snickered.

"I'm not the only one who likes to watch, am I? Perv."

Sirius grinned and continued to stroke his cock.

"The snogging isn't bad," James said, stretching his arms a bit, and then leaning back on his pillow with his hands crossed behind his head, "but I believe I was promised a blow job." He kicked off his pyjama bottoms and positioned himself comfortably in the middle of the bed with his legs spread. "No time like the present, I say."

"Christ," Sirius said. "We've created a monster."

"Just for that, you can watch, Black," James said.

Remus laughed and crawled to the bottom of the bed, switching places with Sirius and kneeling between James' legs. He licked his lips. "I'd say he's come round, don't you think, Padfoot?"

Sirius shrugged, lying on his side with his head even with James' groin, his cock still in hand. "I think I liked him better when he was being a pansy about it."

James narrowed his eyes. "Oi! What's with all the chatter?"

Sirius tilted his head and looked up at James. "Aren't you a delight, Mr Smarmy Pants. Don't say I didn't warn you. Moony's about to ruin you for life."

James clicked his tongue. He was still a bit anxious, but this was Padfoot and Moony, after all. Just one more adventure. "So you say. Always were a big talker. No offence, Moony," he added.

Remus merely shrugged and glanced at Sirius. The look they shared sent a shiver down James' spine.

"Go on," Sirius said softly. "I know you want to. I want to see."

Remus grabbed Sirius by the chin and didn't even wait until their lips were touching before his tongue was in Sirius' mouth. James watched them and felt a jolt of surprise as he realised the depth of feeling between then. He'd rather taken it for granted before, focussed as he'd been on the 'woe is me; my two best friends are buggering each other all over the bloody school' aspect. It was a strange feeling, and he should have felt an intruder or perhaps that he was being used, but he didn't. They were here because they trusted him.

Only you could turn a blow job into sentimental claptrap, Potter, he scolded himself, but then he smiled, his anxiety dissolving—which was probably good thing as Remus chose that moment to slowly lick, starting from beneath his bollocks, straight up to the tip of his cock. He circled it around, and then, alternating between the tip and flat of his tongue as James moaned and twitched, spent several minutes exploring every inch of sensitive skin in and around James' groin.

"Fuck!"

"Like it, do you, Prongs? And he's barely started."

"Ngggghh," James replied as Remus sucked one of James' balls into his mouth.

"Oh, yeah, that's nice," Sirius said, watching Remus with wide eyes. "Do that thing where you—yeah. Just like that."

'That thing' involved a lot of tongue, and James arched his back and dug his heels into the bed. Remus had barely even got to his cock and already James was afraid he wouldn't last long enough. He reached down to squeeze the base of his cock, but another hand got there first. Sirius' hand. _Oh!_ That was better. Or so he thought until Sirius leant down and licked. _Oh, shit!_

Remus sat up and kissed Sirius again, playfully pushing him away from James' cock. Maybe next time. Wait. He was already thinking about a next time? Merlin's balls on a broomstick! He was so buggered.

It was a short kiss, for a moment later James sucked in a breath and groaned as Remus slid James' cock into his mouth. Fuck! Sirius hadn't been taking the piss. Moony's mouth was just as hot and wet as promised.

"Merlin, Moony, that's fucking gorgeous," Sirius said, his voice thick with arousal. "Fuck him, Prongs. He likes that."

James sat up on his elbows, thrusting his hips in short bursts and watching his cock slide in and out of Remus' mouth. The teasing foreplay had been brilliant enough, but this ...

A hint of movement caught his eye and he realised that Sirius' hand was on Remus' arse. No, not on. He clenched his teeth and groaned, watching Sirius's arm, Remus' hips pushing back, and Sirius whispering more of his naughty entreaties. That mouth could do with a _Scourgify_ of its own, but maybe later, James thought. What exactly had he got himself into?

James swallowed, his hips thrusting nearly out of control. If he hadn't already come once tonight, he'd have been finished long before. As it was ... "Padfoot," he croaked.

Sirius jumped out of bed and grabbed James' wand from the night table. Something squeezed around the base of his cock, staving off his orgasm almost painfully. He looked down and saw a thin black band encircling his cock behind his sac. Remus released his cock almost reluctantly.

"Sit up," Sirius said sharply. "On your knees and hold on to the headboard."

"Hold onto what? It's solid wood. Oh," he said as two small handles sprouted from the dark mahogany. "You've done this before, I see."

Sirius grinned. "Usually it's leather straps. Didn't want to scare you away your first time. Now scoot."

James shook his head, but scrambled to obey, throwing his pillow aside. He knelt with his back to the headboard and leant back against it, gripping the handles which were positioned perfectly. The angle made his hips jut out, and he swallowed, his mouth dry as Remus crawled forward on his hands and knees, a wolfish expression on his face. He would have groaned at his own bad pun, only he couldn't think of a better description considering he'd seen him many times as such. Remus wasted no time, going straight for James' cock like he was lunch and as though they hadn't been briefly interrupted.

Randy bastards, not that he could fault them. No wonder they couldn't keep out of each other's pants. Remus had a number of talents that James admired, but cocksucking had shot straight to the top of the list. He was painfully hard, but Remus' mouth was brilliant, and now he could thrust even deeper. _Oh, god._ Remus didn't even try to hold him back. James wanted to come almost as badly as he wanted to keep fucking Remus' mouth.

Sirius had been watching with a hungry look in his eyes, and now he climbed back onto the bed behind Remus, slicking his cock with lube.

"Holy fuck," James said, his voice hoarse as he realised why they'd altered their positioning. Not to mention he'd now have a birds-eye view of things.

Sirius grinned at him. "We always did do everything together," he said as he guided his prick to Remus' arse. "Slow up a second."

Remus moaned, and James jerked his hips, his entire cock vibrating.

"Oh, yeah, Moony. Like that, don't you? Want us to fuck you now?"

Remus moaned again, and James' knuckles whitened where he gripped the handles.

"Go ahead, Jamie," Sirius said, looking expectantly at him. "You start. Don't hold back."

As if he could. He tried to start off slowly, but Sirius thrust back so hard that his cock slid down the back of Remus' throat. His vision blurred, and his hips jerked sharply as Remus swallowed. He completely lost track of everything after that, the sound of Sirius' thighs slapping against Remus' arse as he uttered some of the filthiest things James had ever heard, and Remus' broken moans. He hung on to the handles as though his life depended on it as he and Sirius fucked Remus back and forth between them.

"Get it off," he managed to gasp. "Oh, god, let me come. It hurts." And it did, but in the best way possible. The cock ring vanished and James cried out. Like the locks of a dam opening, everything seemed to surge right into his cock, and he pressed the back of his head hard against the headboard as wave after wave pulsed through his entire body. It was quite possibly the most intense orgasm he'd ever had, and it left him dizzy and breathless.

Remus had released him and was lying prone between James' legs as Sirius continued to fuck him through his own orgasm, his head thrown back, a sheen of sweat on his chest. And he'd accused James of being loud, the fucker.

Sirius pulled out gently after a moment and bent down, easing Remus over onto his back. "I felt you come," he said in awe as brushed the sweaty fringe from Remus' forehead and kissed him there. "You really liked that a lot, didn't you?"

Remus licked his lips and nodded, his eyes still closed as he groped for Sirius with his left arm and pulled him down beside him. Sirius tugged at the blankets and covered them up to their waists both before snuggling alongside.

Snuggling. That ponce, James thought fondly. Then: Great. Now where am I supposed to sleep?

"Prongs," Remus said, his voice a low rasp. He cleared his throat, raising his right arm at the elbow as though he hadn't the energy to lift the whole thing. He probably didn't.

James looked at them both with wide eyes. He let go of the handles, his hands cramping from squeezing them so tightly. He tried to manoeuvre around them, but his knees were stiff and he stumbled, catching himself before he fell off the bed and landing on all fours.

"Klutz," Remus said in his croaky voice. "C'mere."

"Bed's too narrow," he said, opening the curtains, climbing off the bed and stretching. His back cracked and he groaned. Merlin's balls, he was only eighteen but felt as old as Dumbledore.

_"Engorgio,"_ Sirius said, and the bed shot out and whacked James in the thigh, nearly knocking him backwards into Peter's bed.

"Oi! Bastard! That hurt," James said, rubbing his thigh and grimacing. "Give a little warning next time."

"Shut up and get into bed," Sirius said. "I'm knackered, and it's cold as a witch's tit out there. On second thought, stoke the fire first, would you?" he added, tossing James his wand.

James rolled his eyes, but it _was_ cold. His feet were practically numb after only a minute. He aimed a well-placed _Incendio_ at the fireplace, which roared to life, and walked around to the other side of his bed.

"Where ya goin'?" Sirius asked through a yawn.

"Just a second," he replied, taking off his glasses and placing them and his wand on his night table. He poured himself a half glass of water from the pitcher and gulped it down, then crawled through the curtains, rolling over Remus and Sirius and making sure to step all over Sirius with his icy feet as he went.

"Bastard," Sirius muttered, and James smiled. He reached over and drew the open curtain, snatching his pillow from the floor before climbing under the blanket and stretching out on his now-gigantic bed.

"You could move closer, you know," Sirius said. "We don't have doxies."

"Moony doesn't," James said. "Not so sure about you."

"Ha ha. All right, then?" Sirius asked, and James heard the change of tone in his voice.

"All right," he said softly, knowing Sirius would understand everything he meant in just those two words. It really was all right. He scooted closer to Remus, and Remus' hand shot out and grabbed his pillow, putting it under his own head.

"Hey!"

"Share," Remus muttered. He pulled James down beside him. "Better."

Yes, he supposed it was.

_~end_


End file.
